YouTube Adds A Feature That Shows Time Watched

By Dan Anderson ● August 28, 2018

Google has added a feature to YouTube that essentially highlights how long you have spent watching videos. The “Time Watched” feature shows you how much time you have spent on YouTube today, yesterday, the past 7 days, and the daily average.

“At Google I/O in May, we introduced new tools that help people better understand their tech usage, focus on what matters most and disconnect when needed. Starting today, you can find all of the YouTube tools in one place, alongside your personal time watched profile,” said YouTube in a blog post. “Our goal is to provide a better understanding of time spent on YouTube, so you can make informed decisions about how you want YouTube to best fit into your life.”

Plus there is a feature built into the settings that reminds you when to take a break. You can decide whether or not to autoplay the next videos. And you can set time limits so you know when to take a break. The data is based on your watch history so YouTube cannot track these stats unless the history is enabled and has not been cleared up.

Time Watched on YouTube / Photo: YouTube

To see the time spent on YouTube from your mobile device, open the app in portrait mode. At the top right corner, tap on the Settings menu. And then tap on the “Time Watched” button. This feature does not seem to be on the desktop version yet.